Number Crunching: Oregon week
Our eclectic look at the numbers surrounding Purdue football as it enters its Friday night battle with No. 2 Oregon. Thanks to Griffin Herdegen for his work on today’s NC.
46
Points scored by Purdue after halftime against Illinois, the most in school history. The Boilermakers’ combined 40 points in the third and fourth quarters are the most in those two periods since 2012, when the Boilermakers recorded 42 in the second half against Indiana in a 56-35 win in Danny Hope’s final game as head coach. It was also the most points for Purdue in a loss since 1993 when the Boilermakers suffered a 59-56 defeat at Minnesota.
3
Total Friday night games played in Ross-Ade Stadium after the Oregon game. Purdue has played 14 games on a Friday before the Ducks came into town.
50 plus
Illinois’ 50 points are the most ever scored by the Illini against Purdue. That now makes it three separate times this year where long-time Purdue opponents have scored the most points in the history of their rivalry – Notre Dame (highest in 86 games), Wisconsin (highest in 91 games) and Illinois (highest in 100 games).
2015
Purdue is 1-5 through their first six games for the first time since 2015. They also started 1-5 in 2013. Coincidentally, all three of those wins were against FCS opponent Indiana State.
No. 5
According to ESPN’s FPI, Purdue has the fifth-toughest remaining schedule in the entire country and second in the Big Ten behind Nebraska (the top three are all SEC teams). The Boilermakers face three of the top four teams in the country in the next four weeks, along with a surprising undefeated No. 16 Indiana team. The remaining teams on Purdue’s schedule are a combined 29-7 (80.5% winning percentage).
Top 10
- 1Breaking
Tony Bennett retires
Virginia coach abruptly steps down
- 2
Herbie rips OSU fans
Kirk Herbstreit defends Will Howard
- 3Hot
Travis Hunter vs. Ashton Jeanty
Buffs star compares himself vs. Ashton Jeanty
- 4
Highest Paid CFB Coaches
USA Today ranks Top 25 highest-paid college football coaches
- 5New
Isaiah Bond
Steve Sarkisian addresses injury update on Texas star WR
0
Interceptions tossed by Ryan Browne in his debut as a starter. Ryan Browne recorded 415 total offensive yards and three TDs with no picks in his first career start. The last Purdue quarterback to record 415+ yards was Aidan O’Connell in 2022 against Syracuse (434 total yards with three TDs and one pick) and the last time a QB did so without throwing a pick was again O’Connell in 2021 when he recorded 416 total offensive yards and 3 TDs against Northwestern. /the 415 yards in total offense is the most in Purdue history by a quarterback in his first start.
-29.5
The Boilers opened as a whopping 29.5-point underdogs to Oregon. Only one other time in the last 30 years Purdue has been a home dog by as many points – in November 2013, when the 1-6 Boilermakers hosted undefeated No. 4 Ohio State as 31.5-point dogs in a game they got shut out 56-0. It’s the most points a home team in the Big Ten has been an underdog in since September of last season when Indiana was a 30-point home ‘dog to the Buckeyes and went on to lose 23-3.
5 and 2
Browne’s historical ranking in passing and rushing yardage by Purdue quarterbacks in their first career starts as Boilermakers. Browne is fifth in passing yardage on a list headed by Eric Hunter’s 344 yard effort at Michigan in 1989. Only Rob Henry (132) has rushed for more yards in his first career start, 14 more yards than Browne amassed.
8
Coach Joe Tiller’s total of 49-plus point performances in his career at Purdue. Ryan Walters became the first Boilermaker coach since Tiller to lead the Boilermakers to multiple 49-point efforts (last year, the Boilermakers beat Minnesota 49-30).
